American Idiot is the seventh studio album by Green Day, released in 2004. It is essentially the Rock Opera that is responsible for their comeback. The plot is a Coming-of-Age Story, following the Anti-Hero protagonist, Jesus of Suburbia (JOS), as he matures from a rebellious youth to a jaded adult.

As a teenager, JOS is cynical of society and dissatisfied with his life as an every-man in his town, desensitised by a steady diet of soda pop and Ritalin ("Jesus of Suburbia"). The song also introduces a rage vs. love theme prevalent throughout the plot.

JOS decides to leave his broken home and seek a new life for himself in the city. Here, JOS meets St. Jimmy, the son of a bitch and Edgar Allan Poe, a punk rock freedom fighter ("St. Jimmy"). St. Jimmy can be interpreted as an actual person and a bad influence on JOS, introducing him to drugs ("Give Me Novocaine"), or as an alternate personality JOS creates for himself, representing blind, self-destructive rebellion.

JOS is also introduced to Whatsername ("She's A Rebel") and they begin a romantic relationship. JOS is attracted to Whatsername's rebellious, troubled nature. However, because of the combined influence of St. Jimmy and JOS's drug addiction, Whatsername leaves JOS ("Letterbomb"). St. Jimmy commits suicide and JOS leaves the punk scene ("Homecoming"). Eventually he conforms to a normal life and forgets Whatsername, only remembering her face ("Whatsername").

Now a Broadway Musical. An Avant-Garde Broadway Musical? A movie is apparently being planned, too.

Also provided the basis for the Mash Up album "American Edit" by "Dean Gray", which remixes tracks from the album with an extremely diverse range of other songs, ranging from Bryan Adams and The Offspring to The Beatles, the Bangles, Queen and the Doctor Who theme. It's surprisingly good and expands on the plot of the album. The band's label objected to the mash-up, but Billie Joe Armstrong supposedly heard it and approved.

Principal Members:

Boulevard Of Broken Tropes:

Adaptation Expansion: The musical adds onto the JOS plot with stories of his two best friends. There's Will, who wants to leave but has to stay home with his pregnant girlfriend, and Tunny, who initially goes to the city with JOS but then ends up joining the army.

Arc Words: Inevitable, given the storytelling aspect of the album, but a few stand out, especially in 'Homecoming'. Part 2 bears resemblance to the 'I don't care' part of Jesus of Suburbia, acting a bit like Book Ends as JOS returns home. Also, Whatsername's 'Nobody likes you' taunt shows up quite a bit, possibly to imply thoughts going around JOS/ Jimmy's head during the song.

Bittersweet Ending: The musical. Tunny loses his leg in the war but falls in love with the Extraordinary Girl. Johnny and Will have lost the women they love but are finally getting their acts together, have their friends back, and Heather is letting Will see his baby again.

"Homecoming" actually started as the opposite: a few Miniscule Rocking tracks which were then stitched together.

Fading into the Next Song: "Holiday"/"Boulevard of Broken Dreams" (the music videos also follow this, since the former's - produced later - ends where the latter begins) and "Are We the Waiting"/"St. Jimmy". "Give Me Novocaine" -> "She's A Rebel" and "Extraordinary Girl" -> "Letterbomb" are lesser examples.

Freudian Trio: Jimmy is the id, JOS is the ego, and "Whatsername" is the superego. (considering that she's the only one who ever calls JOS out)

Genre Deconstruction: Of the Punk movement as a whole. JOS becomes a self-absorbed, self-destructive rebel without a cause who ultimately accomplishes nothing and according to "Letterbomb" is the real American Idiot. This creates the interesting social commentary in that rather than (just) turning people into mindless drones, the alienation and paranoia of modern American society creates self-destructive rebellion.

Real Life Writes the Plot: Certain songs and themes were inspired by the band's growing dissatisfaction with the George W. Bush administration and their politics regarding the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Strawman Political: To an extent, although not nearly at the flanderized level that the album was often portrayed as in pop culture. While two songs (the title track and "Holiday") do contain lyrics overtly criticising a certain president, the remainder of the album is fairly apolitical and focuses primarily on the Jesus of Suburbia/St. Jimmy storyline.

The fact that the music video to "Wake Me Up When September Ends" depicts the Iraq War probably also contributed to the popular perceptions of the album's politicised nature.

A perception which is then flipped in the musical; Tunny is shown fighting in what could be Afghanistan during "Give Me Novocaine" while "Wake Me Up When September Ends" becomes about/is set during the 9/11 attacks.

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